Lankan indigenous community shares genetic bonds with Indian tribal groups-Study-by Gayan Suriya Arachci
Source:Dailymirror
The indigenous community of Sri Lanka shares close genetic bonds with five Indian tribal groups, a study by a
team of scientists at the University of Colombo reveals.
A team of Sri Lankan scientists has found that the Vedda share a strong genetic similarity with the Austroasiatic Munda-speaking Santhal and Juang tribes in Odisha and the Dravidian-speaking Irula, Paniya and Pallar found in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
The research was carried out by Dr. Ruwandi Ranasinghe, Prof. Kamani Thennakoon, Prof Gamini Adikari, Anjala Welikala and Amali Fernando along with a team at the Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the University of Colombo.
The research team confirmed recent genetic similarities between the Vedda people in Sri Lanka and South Indian tribes. The confirmation was made after comparing genetic parts extracted from blood samples of 37 healthy Vedda individuals with those of Indian tribal people.
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The research team published their findings in the journal Mitochondrion Science. According to the research, it has been revealed that more people have had genetic similarities with these five tribes for centuries than the Sinhalese or Tamil population of Sri Lanka.
Two years ago, scientists began researching the symbiotic relationship between the Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic groups in Sri Lanka.
